Man you go out for a couple of hours and come back to find much weeping and gnashing of teeth. I'm assuming Patrick McEnroe has been checked in for observation. They're replaying the match on ESPN - a first? - so it's on my television. It's hard to root for someone when truth be told neither player is one you would choose to watch.
In Other News...
No tennishead can forget the reaction when Martina Hingis, after losing to Amelie Mauresmo in the Australian Open a few years back compared playing her to playing a man. There were many reasons not to care for Ms Hingis but this added many fans to the list of haters.
That said I wonder why this comment by Justine Henin didn't get a lot of play?
Q. Can you say a few words about Samantha Stosur, your next opponent? Have you played her?
JUSTINE HENIN: Yes, I played her once. That was a few weeks back in the final in Stuttgart. She has made huge progress in singles, because she used to play the doubles.
But now she's a top player in the singles. She has beautiful qualities on clay because she plays kind of a man's tennis. I mean, she has very heavy balls. She is a very powerful girl. She has a beautiful forehand and a very good backhand, as well.
It was difficult in Stuttgart. I know it's going to be difficult tomorrow. Anyway, from the round of 16 things get tougher, so I expect a good fight.
Maybe because she "clarified" what she meant? Kinda?
There is a reason lots of fans dislike listening to the ESPN commentators. Federer's opponent is up 2-0 in the second set on the replay I'm watching. I just had to listen to Brad Gilbert go on about how the Monogram is so perfect his socks aren't covered in red clay. That's analysis Brad? Really? It got worse. They were yammering on and on about the player they've deified while Robin Soderling went up 2-0 on the FedGod and held to go up 3-0. If I didn't know how this ends I would've turned it off already.
1 comment:
While I am a big Fed fan I think the media does more to make people hate Fed than really appreciate his game and what he brings to tennis. I have been watching the ESPNI feed and I have found the commentary on it to be fair and balanced. Yes, they love his tennis but they gave equal amazing shout out loud moments to both guys today. Frankly, I think just as the French have adopted Fed and made him an honorary Frenchman, so too does the American media. The difference is that when Fed plays a real American then they usually go for the jugular. A bit like how the ATP guys are bandwagon type fans.
As to Justine's comment, I think the fact that she said it without malice and went on to describe in vivid detail why Stosur's game was a bit like a man helped to not have fans of Stosur planning to tar and feather Henin. I recall hearing a commentator mention that no woman hits the ball like Stosur. They say that her ball is as heavy with spin as Nadal's.
For some reason I have never joined in the bandwagon on Stosur. I do not like her and I do not like her game. For all the talk about her serve, it is rather predictable in that you know exactly where it is going, especially the second serve. The only reason why it caused Justine so much problems was because she plays one-handed. I hope Serena will take lessons from Venus as to how to neutralise that kick serve tomorrow.
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